CONSIDERACIONES A TENER EN CUENTA

In the digital collection, SINABI holds a nearly complete collection of years 1936 through 1942, missing just three issues of 58. Triquitraque was out of circulation for 1943, and SINABI does not hold 1944 in its digital collection. For years 1945-1947, SINABI holds all but four issues of 23. Issues averaged 16 pages, and usually featured five to seven pieces of

literature, two or three activities, and an editorial update for teachers. Table C shows categorical distribution of content by year from 1936 to 1947, which not unlike San Selerín, tended to favor the three main categories, narrative, expository, and verse.

148  _{Quoted in  José Antonio Salas Víquez, “La enseñanza de la historia en Costa Rica. 1870-1950:} Una aproximación desde la historia social del currículum,” Perspectivas. Revista de

Investigación. Teoría y Didáctica de los Estudios Sociales (2010), 94.   149  _{Carmen Lyra, “Reseña de libros” 6.}

150 _{Ibid, 6}

151_{It is important to note Carmen Lyra’s influence over her mentee Luisa González when} analyzing González’s work. See “Amigos mios,” Triquitraque, 15 April 1937, 1.

TABLE 3: CATEGORICAL DISTRIBUTION OF TRIQUITRAQUE, 1936-1947 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940* 1941* 1942* 1945 1946 1947 Narrative 7 18 25 20 27 18 13 14 17 11 Expository 12 20 14 19 17 15 24 18 8 7 Verse 15 15 15 12 9 4 10 11 9 4 Children’s Theatre 0 5 0 2 0 2 1 1 0 2 Activities 20 26 11 19 16 17 7 17 12 5 Current Events 9 9 9 10 14 8 7 8 6 3 Child Contribution 1 4 1 0 1 0 2 0 0 0 TOTAL ISSUES 5 9 8 9 9 6 6 9 6 6 Source: Triquitraque 1936-1947. *No credited administration

Luisa González is traditionally credited for administering Triquitraque for the entirety of its impressive career from 1936 to 1947. However, a look at the sources reveals that Luisa González was credited as the periodical’s administration only from 1937-1939.152 Then, there was a clear ideological shift in the periodical’s presentation and content starting in 1940 to 1942, at which point the periodical was discontinued. Triquitraque started back in circulation in 1944, but SINABI does not have 1944 in their collection. In 1945, Luisa González was credited again as administrator, and Carlos Luis Sáenz and Adela Ferreto joined her as directors. González administered and Sáenz directed Triquitraque in 1946 and 1947. This ideological shift and failure to acknowledge an editor between 1940 and 1942 was due to the incompatibility of the content being published and Luisa González’s political convictions. Indeed, so intrinsic are her values to her work that she was not officially affiliated when the didactic production did not reflect her ideological identity.

In 1936, the Asociación de Maestras de Kindergarten, or Association of Kindergarten Teachers (ANDE), published Triquitraque. No further administrative or editorial details are

available. Triquitraque did not rely on any commercial advertising in 1936, and editors declared any profit that was to be made from the periodical would go either to improving the periodical itself or as a donation to various kindergartens. Contributors in each issue varied, and authors were often not credited for their work.153

Editorials in the 1936 issues shared the adventures of Triquitraque in all of his travels, and in August, it revealed that Triquitraque had been traveling with Tío Conejo, thus positioning Triquitraque as an ally to often-subversive San Selerín. The editorials share the adventures of the two travelers as they traverse the world together, learning about new people and new places. Triquitraque and Tío Conejo promise the readers that they will share all of their stories. Tío Conejo even graced the cover of the September 1936 issue. Significantly, the September issue of 1936, despite the potential for nationalist propaganda, featured activities that taught readers about flags from all over the world, and was a subtle rejection of typical nationalist discourse and “the cult of the flag.” Save for a coloring page of a traditional Costa Rican oxcart, there was nothing that brought attention to, let alone glorified Costa Rican identity.

153 _{That being said, one author that is frequently credited is Lemuel Gulliver, the fictional} traveler from the classic novel Gulliver’s Travels.  Lemuel Gulliver is credited for writing editorials, narratives, verses, and expository pieces, and wrote stories that featured the title character, Triquitraque. It is unclear who authored the work credited to Lemuel Gulliver, but the work appears frequently in Triquitraque (and San Selerín) during the early and later phases. Given Gulliver’s initials, L.G., and Luisa González’s role as administrator, she most likely wrote as Gulliver.  

IMAGE 5: TRIQUITRAQUE AND TIO CONEJO

Source: Triquitraque, Sept. 1936, cover.

In the 1937 issues, Luisa González was credited as the administrator of the periodical. That same year, Triquitraque incorporated commercial advertising. Interestingly, it was the same year the Communist newspaper Trabajo began relying on advertising. Editors made it clear the periodical was already struggling financially, and several issues featured updates asking teachers to cancel their outstanding accounts.

Despite being dependent on commercial advertising contracts, Triquitraque continued to read as overall critical for 1937, despite increasing de-radicalization within the PCCR. In an editorial published in the April 15th _{issue, González praised the legacy and work of José Martí,} aspiring to provide the children of Costa Rica with quality literature as had “abuelito Martí” for Cuban children.154 This reaffirmed González’s alignment with the Martí model, as set by San Selerín. González explicitly claims that Triquitraque is “San Selerín’s little brother.” Indeed, González featured subversive narratives, such as the tales of Tío Conejo, rejected elite nationalist

discourse tactics, and demonstrated a commitment to engaging with children and connecting them to their political realities.

With that in mind, Triquitraque was heterdox. Varied contributors brought with them varied perspectives. For example, Triquitraque featured a special two-part history of the development of Costa Rica in the September and October issues. Though the piece recognizes conflict with the indigenous and the exploitation of African slaves, the history is exemplary of mythical Whig histories in that it asserts a perpetual onward and upward progression of democracy in Costa Rica. In that sense, rather than being subversive, this historical piece conformed to the nationalist paradigm.

The ideological inconsistencies continued into 1938. In the July issue in 1938, page four featured an ad for the business Cacao Cartago. This ad explicitly addressed “intelligent children” and stated, “a good hot chocolate is a healthy drink and a great source of natural nutrients.”155 On the very next page, Triquitraque published an expository piece, “History of Cacao.” There was no mention of African or indigenous slavery, or any exploitation on the part of the agro-export industry whatsoever. Given Luisa González’s political convictions, her legacy of struggle against the agro-export industry, and her position as a revolutionary feminist, why then does she, as administrator, publish this kind of content for children?

There are a few possible answers. The first and most likely is that Luisa González oversaw the production of Triquitraque, but increasingly took a more hands-off approach to content. This is evidenced by increasingly conformist pieces and imagery leading up to the complete overhaul of administration from 1940 to 1942. For example, the September 1939 cover, in contrast to previous years, featured patriotic symbolism and the national shield. Also, her

fellow comrades within the PCCR were de-radicalizing, especially in the latter third of the 1930s, and negotiating important political alliances to maintain legitimacy. The second and more complicated answer is advertising. To generate contracts for commercial advertising, publishers compromised the integrity of the content being published and their values. Ads for Cacao Cartago appeared in several issues until 1945, as well as ads from other agro-export businesses. Financially dependent on these commercial contracts, it was unlikely the editors would have had the freedom to criticize. As A. J. Liebling astutely wrote in 1960, “freedom of the press is guaranteed only to those who own it.”156

IMAGE 6: TRIQUITRAQUE SEPTEMBER COVERS, 1936, 1937, AND 1939.

Source: Triquitraque, Sept 1936, Sept 1937, Sept 1939 (SINABI does not hold Sept 1938) Indeed, content conformed more and more to the liberal-nationalist paradigms of the period throughout 1938 and 1939. Content very much reflected the racist rhetoric of the Costa Rican oligarchy, with stories like “Tales from the Red Skins,” featured mythical and patriotic

156 _{A. J. Liebling, “The Wayward Press: Do You Belong in Journalism?” The New Yorker, 14} May 1960, 109.

histories, and regularly adulated the agro-export industries. Additionally, as content conformed to liberal paradigms, it strayed from Montessorian pedagogical notions.

Indeed, Triquitraque’s approach to engagement shifted throughout its administration. From the beginning, Triquitraque was engaging with its readers. In every issue, there was some sort of solicitation for correspondence, generally in the form of a contest. For example, in July 1936, Triquitraque asked children to color a page from the magazine and send it in, and the best ones would be awarded a free copy of the August issue. Two hundred and forty children

participated, and 13 winners were chosen.

In 1937, the editors began soliciting formal, written child contributions. In the May issue, it addressed readers from Heredia and asked students to write an essay about their experiences at the commemoration of the late intellectual Aquileo Echeverría (1866-1909). Editors wrote, “Triquitraque would like to know [the purpose of the party] to tell all his friends throughout the whole country.”157 The open nature of this solicitation is important to note. No further guidelines were provided, editors simply asked for the child’s perspective. This demonstrated a belief that children are creative, rational subjects capable of autonomously producing content from which other people could benefit. In other words, it suggested they believed children could be

successful social actors, create change, and effectively engage with socio-cultural systems, beliefs all originating from Montessorian pedagogy. Triquitraque published one child contribution in 1936, four in 1937, and 1 in 1938.

After that, Triquitraque rarely solicited, and when it did there were clear commercial motives. For example, in the July issue of 1940, Mercedes, a candy company, sponsored a contest in which it asked readers to collect stamps that summarized the history of Costa Rica

through 1940. After passively collecting the information, readers could send in their collection for a chance to win a prize. In 1941, Triquitraque hosted another, arguably more problematic contest. This one did solicit active participation, reminiscent of the contests during the earlier years of publication. However, it did not solicit creative expression, but rather performance in that the compositions were expected to follow a script. The contest offered 5 CRC to the best compositions. (Previous contests raffled off free copies of the 0.10 CRC magazine, so this prize is 50 times the value of the reward offered in earlier publications, enough to buy a five-year- subscription to the magazin.) The guidelines provided read:

All children in Costa Rica should honor the soldier from Alajuela [Juan Santamaría] who was immortalized in the Battle of Rivas lifting his arm to the thatch in the purest form of patriotism. Think about Santamaría, remember his feat, reflect on his sublime act and the words that he said; that is one way to honor him. This magazine offers every child in the country, in order to celebrate April 11th, [the anniversary of the Battle of Rivas], the following contest: Write a composition in prose or verse that has to do with Juan Santamaría in two pages or less. . . The best entries will receive 5 CRC.158

This is not a Montessori-inspired invitation for creative, autonomous expression. This is bribery and manipulation, reinforcing access to economic success for those that toe the

ideological line as defined by the nationalist oligarchy. Indeed, after 1939, there was a clear ideological and pedagogical shift away from González’s own convictions.

The introductory editorial for the March 1940 issue addressed adults and confronted them with Triquitraque’s delicate financial status. As part of their argument for why adults should financially support Triquitraque, the editors wrote, “Spending [money] on Triquitraque is spending [money] on culture for children.”159 The May 1940 issue opens with another long editorial written for adult readers entitled “The teachers of Triquitraque are cultural agents,” in

158  _{“2 Premios de 5 Colones Cada Uno A Las Mejores Composiciones,”  Triquitraque, March} 1940, 12.  

which editors asserted the importance of a magazine for children in the construction of the national culture.

The changes in editorial structures most likely contributed to the ideological and pedagogical shifts. The May 1940 editorial praised the work of the teachers who worked to put the magazine together and credited more than twenty teacher-contributors. Though previous administrator Luisa González was not credited, other figures from the radicalized intellectual feminist sphere included Marta Castro and Adela Ferreto (listed as Adela de Sáenz). Yet, overall, Triquitraque was not radical or subversive during this period despite contributions from

radicalized intellectuals, most likely because it was not directed or administered by the radicals. Indeed, Triquitraque lost its subversive qualities during this period, and even narratives featuring Tío Conejo were mild and apolitical. In the September 1940 issue, editors published a story called “How rabbits lost their tails,”160 originally published in Onza, Tigre y León a

Venezuelan children’s magazine. Though the title character of the story is named Tío Conejo, he barely resembled the cunning subaltern of past stories written by national authors. This story does not feature any sort of subversive socio-political allusion, but rather was reminiscent of Western or Greek mythology in the sense that it tried to explain a natural phenomenon, why rabbits do not have tails, with a mythical story. In fact, Tío Conejo is not brave, cunning, or witty in the story; he cries as soon as he is confronted with danger and does not manage to get himself out of trouble.

Additionally, editors did not explicitly reject liberal-nationalist discourse, as had been the tendencies in previous publications. The September 1940 issue featured a poem adulating the Costa Rican flag and a history of Costa Rican progress, as told by roofs, or the changing styles of

architecture. The September 1941 issue featured a play, called “Patriotic Evocation,” in which children were expected to recite reasons they love their patria. Similarly, the September 1942 issue opened with the Decálogo Cívico, essentially the Ten Commandments of Patriotism. It read:

I – Love your Patria and your Flag over your own life. II – Do not pledge loyalty to your Patria in vain. III – Love your work as much as you love yourself.

IV – Honor the memory of the heroes whose acts have elevated them into our consciousness.

V – Do not kill your citizen’s consciousness. VI – Do not infringe on the norms of sociability.

VII – Remember with affection the glorious dates of your people. VIII – Combat ignorance and injustice

IX – Do not degenerate your body with vices or your spirit with ungratefulness or disloyalty.

X – Cultivate your personality to be honest, serving, and polite in all your activity.161

This content does not reflect the values of the proletarian internationalists or González; it represents “the cult of the flag” and everything Luisa González and her compañeras actively denounced in their work. It seems, then, that the absence of Luisa González in the credits

between 1940 and 1942 was not a mistake or a coincidence. Despite being credited by historians and literary scholars as the administrator of Triquitraque from 1936 to 1947, the content suggests this was not the case.

It is worth noting that after the 1939 Hitler-Stalin Pact, the Latin American radical left stopped denouncing fascism. And in Costa Rica, in 1942, two years after Luisa González ended her affiliation with Triquitraque, the magazine introduced Club V, a club meant for children meant to disseminate anti-fascist propaganda. Club V offered members an identifying patch, as well as contests and prizes. The contests asked for drawings that would illustrate phases like

“Down with Totalitarian Slavery!” and “America Rejects Slavery and Barbarism!” and compositions dealing with questions like “Why does Costa Rica side with the Democratic

powers?” and “Why are the children and men of Costa Rica democrats?” The contests were open to all “anti-nazi teachers and children.” In the June 1942 issue, Club V outlined its organization and conduct guidelines for members. In the July 1942 issue, Club V featured an essay adulating United States president Franklin D. Roosevelt. By August, Club V was assigning homework to its members, including a short essay on “Why I love my little Patria.”

These clubs were successful in schools all over the country with students as young as third grade, and though they might reflect the values of child participation and engagement, the nature of their club was not compatible with Montessorian notions and suggests that Luisa González played a more hands off role in Triquitraque between 1940 and 1942. Her absence from Triquitraque suggests an alignment with far-left ideological trends rather than exclusively the official PCCR rhetoric.

IMAGE 7: CLUB V

“All members of Club V should wear this badge on their chest. . .” Source: Triquitraque, Mayo 1942, 14

In 1945, a year after Triquitraque came back into circulation, Luisa González was clearly listed as the administrator and along with her, Carlos Luis Sáenz and Adela Ferreto de Sáenz served as directors. Financially, editors still relied on commercial advertising in the magazine, but significantly, after 1945 there were no more ads from agro-export businesses. In selecting the literature, editors favored national authors and re-established Triquitraque’s engagement with children through editorials rather than with adults. Pedagogically, editors incorporated more explicitly didactic materials and focused on natural sciences over social sciences and González’s Montessorian influence was evident once again. Indeed, 1945 Triquitraque reflected the values from its earlier stages.

It is not a coincidence that as the periodical distanced itself again from the agro-export industry it became increasingly subversive once again. Editors rejected, explicit nationalist discourse. For example, the September 1945 issue featured only one essay relating to Costa Rica, and it was a natural science, expository piece on soils. Editors also focused on national authors and intellectual production, and incorporated familiar, subversive Tío Conejo stories. In the June 1946 issue, editors published “Tío Conejo and the Death of Tía Zorra,”162 in which Tío Conejo finds himself on the menu. In the story, Tía Zorra (Aunt Fox) and Tío Coyote (Uncle Coyote) conspired to trick Tío Conejo so they could have him for dinner. Tío Coyote told Tía Zorra to play dead, so that while Tío Conejo was distracted by the tragedy, Tío Coyote could snatch him. But Tío Conejo, astute and witty, could not be tricked, and he managed to escape from danger and humiliate Tía Zorra and Tío Coyote in the process.

Tío Conejo tales were just one of the ways editors after 1945 engaged with children and connected them with their socio-political realities. In fact, in 1945, Adela Ferreto de Sáenz began

writing editorials as Triquitraque, the title character inspired by San Selerín, and in contrast to the years 1940-1942, these editorials engaged with children, not adults. This is because the entire focus of the magazine shifted after 1942 back to serving children rather than acculturating them. In the first editorial of 1945, editors wrote to their “queridos amiguitos” or “dear little friends” and concluded, “Here is Triquitraque to serve and delight his little friends.”163 Significantly, the accompanying illustration to the editorial featured Triquitraque and Tío Conejo, bringing back the alliance from 1936.

The following year, in 1946, Ferreto wrote an introductory editorial as Triquitraque